Richard

Excelsior Springs, MO — June 9 – 11, 2014: The Stained Glass Association of America is proud to announce that the 105th Annual Summer Conference will be, for the first time, the SGAA Artists’ Retreat at the Elms Hotel and Spa. The park-like grounds and the serenity of the atmosphere at the Elms is perfect for an artists’ retreat. The SGAA has received a special room rate of only $119 per night, single or double. The Retreat registration rate will be $225. Register before January 1, 2014, and be automatically entered to win a case of glass from Uroboros at the Portland 2015 conference.

The SGAA Artists’ Retreat will include more hands-on, interactive and contemplative programs with time for reflection and sharing of art and theory. But the business-minded will not be left out. We are planning workshops on both Committee Psychology and Restoration.

The Conference Committee is also working with the Stained Glass School to provide workshops during the conference rather than prior to the conference. This plan is to allow attendees to save on travel and hotel expense while still being able to attend School workshops.

The Annual Summer Conference tour will be optional this year, taking place on June 12, and will include a tour of churches, historic buildings and homes, and some of the local wineries.
Are you interested in being a Conference Sponsor? Contact us at 800.438. 9581, or headquarters@sgaaonline.com and request a Suppliers Showcase program — you’ll receive lots of advertising coverage at very little expense!
Watch the SGAA website at www.stainedglass.org for more updates and conference registration.

The Stained Glass School, Inc., is actively seeking qualified professionals interested in teaching workshops and classes at the new location in Raytown, Missouri. Interested instructors should send description, outline of class, and materials list. Also include your curriculum vitae, a portfolio of work relevant to the class, and compensation requirements (i.e., teacher’s fee and expenses). Future class dates and schedules are being set for Winter, Spring and the 2015 Pre-Conference Classes in Portland, Oregon. Please consider donating your teaching fee for your first class to help get the school started! Please send all information via email to headquarters@sgaaonline.com or to SGAA Headquarters, 9313 E. 63rd Street, Raytown, MO 64133

Thank You, everyone, who made the 104th Annual Summer Conference
of the Stained Glass Association of America
a success! We look forward to seeing you next year
for the 105th Annual Summer Conference:
The Artists’ Retreat at the Elms Resort & Spa
June 9 – 11, 2014, Excelsior Springs, Missouri.

INDY 2013 Conference Sponsors

Thank you to our Conference Sponsors! The Stained Glass Association of America Annual Summer Conference would not be possible without their support!

Stained Glass Association of America — The SGAA is a professional trade association dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the architectural glass arts. Discover for yourself the importance of the Association and all the benefits it provides you and the industry. Affiliation includes:

• four issues of The Stained Glass Quarterly
• four issues of the Kaleidoscope
• listing in the Sourcebook directory
• the privilege of using the SGAA Swash logo

The SGAA Stained Glass School has long been known for offering workshops and seminars in conjunction with the Stained Glass Association of America’s Annual Summer Conference. However, in April of this year, the SGAA Stained Glass School took a new step forward in offering top-quality classes at its facility in Raytown, Missouri.

It was fitting that the first class offered should be Stained Glass 101, an introduction to stained glass fabrication and painting. The class was taught by Jerome Durr, then SGAA President, and Bob Markert, SGAA School Director. Students came from all over the Kansas City metro area to take part in the class, which included trips to the Nelson Atkins Museum, Kathy Barnard’s Kansas City studio, and Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral for an afternoon spent studying photographing stained glass in the field.

The next workshop to be offered at the SGAA Stained Glass School facility is A Focus on Enamels with Jim Berberich. At the time of publication of this magazine, this class was already at capacity, and a waiting list had been created in case of vacancies. Students will be coming from around the world to study painting with enamels on glass with painter Jim Berberich, who has taught at past SGAA Annual Summer Conferences and whose work is widely known and respected.

For more information on future SGAA Stained Glass School class offerings, watch this publication; the SGAA Facebook page; and, of course, the various SGAA and School websites, especially www.stainedglassschool.org.

SGAA Member Price $5.00 each
Non-Member Price $10.00 each
(plus $2.50 for US shipping)

Years and the experience of many major stained glass studios have gone into the writing of this major SGAA publication. It has been designed to provide educational information to the owners and caretakers of stained glass windows — how stained glass windows are made, how they are maintained and repaired, and how they are restored.

Meant for stained glass practitioners, this publication will be invaluable to you, your employees, your clients, and potential clients.

Visit our website now to securely order through PayPal, or call the SGAA Headquarters at 800.438.9581.

Large-quantity orders are available through the SGAA Headquarters by calling 800.438.9581. Case price Special! Available until December 31: 105 copies for only $262.50 for all purchasers. All pricing is plus shipping and handling to your location.

In my opinion, this year’s Annual Summer Conference, which was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, in early June, was one of the better conferences the Stained Glass Association of America has had in recent years, and the SGAA has a history of quality conferences. This year’s presentations were informative, entertaining, and engaging; the exhibition had some extremely fine pieces that represented stained glass very well; and the venue itself — downtown Indianapolis — was extremely nice, clean, and home to a number of excellent restaurants, not the least of which was the Weber Grill. I know there were a number of others who enjoyed eating there as much as I did, and for them — and for anyone else who might find it interesting — I’d like to point out that their website, webergrillrestaurant.com, features recipes of some of the dishes they serve there.

I would also like to say a very big thank you to SGAA member Michael “Zimmy” Zimmerman. When I say this conference could not have been what it was without him, that is no exaggeration. Because of my knee injury, I was not able to drive, nor was I able to do much lifting or many of the other things that I regularly do at a conference. Zimmy flew to Kansas City, helped load the truck, drove it to Indianapolis, and helped with every aspect of setup and cleanup above and beyond what he had volunteered to do as chairman of the Exhibition Committee. The SGAA is blessed with many members whose dedication to the Association and whose strength of character and desire to advance the cause of the Ancient Craft is truly impressive; Michael Zimmerman certainly deserves to be recognized as one of those members.

Of course, I also have to mention the 125th Anniversary Celebration at Kokomo Opalescent Glass. What fun that was! I have been fortunate enough to have visited Kokomo in the past and was happy to be there again. I, like most who are involved in stained glass, really enjoy watching sheets of glass being made. While watching the men taking ladles of molten glass from the furnace to the roller, I made the same comment I made last time I was there and the same comment I am sure I will make the next time I am there: I wonder how much I would have to pay them to let me do that job for fifteen minutes?

Our hosts — John O’Donnell, Dick Elliott, and the entire Kokomo Opalescent Glass staff — were wonderful hosts. They treated us to quite a celebration, and it was very nice to be able to celebrate this important milestone with them.

The Stained Glass Association of America’s Annual Summer Conference could not be what it is without the support of our sponsors. (For a complete sponsor list, please see pages 98 and 99; please be sure to support these companies with your business, and let them know you appreciate their support of the SGAA.) Every one of our sponsors is directly responsible for much of the success of the Conference. I would especially like to extend a personal thank you to Jon Rarick of Reusché & Company of T.W.S., Inc., and Robert Jayson of S.A. Bendheim, Inc. These long-time supporters truly understand the vision of the Association and are willing to support that vision as we work for a better future for stained, decorative, and architectural art glass. Not only are they willing to support the Annual Summer Conference, but they also generously support the SGAA Stained Glass School with donations of materials for both conference classes and on-site workshops at the SGAA Headquarters. Gentlemen, I thank you for that support.

I started off by saying I thought this was one of the better Annual Summer Conferences in recent years, and it certainly was! However, I have to say that I am expecting next year’s conference — an Artists’ Retreat at the historic Elms Resort & Spa in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, which is just northeast of Kansas City — to exceed even Indianapolis. The discussion and planning for the Artists’ Retreat has been very exciting. There will be more hands-on classes and workshops as a regular part of the Conference than there has been at recent conferences. This format is not simply a new direction for the Association’s Annual Summer Conference; it is really more a return to our roots and revisiting the format of Conferences long ago, when it was not uncommon for the Association to plan a life-drawing class for its members complete with music provided by a string quartet. Like I said, it has been very exciting to be a part of that planning; you can expect to see much more about Excelsior Springs 2014 over the next several issues as planning progresses.

All periods of time have their curiosities, positives, and negatives. The art of glass continually unfolds while seemingly taking on a life of its own.

The business world has, for hundreds of years, been a global institution. The difference today is that we have instant views of faraway places and events, with no need to rely on foot, horse, ship, train, or plane. For the most part, we click, double click, and drag, and — voila: we are “there;” we are learning; we get instruction; we are entertained. And we blog. A myriad of opinions are literally at our finger tips. Technology is here to stay.

The materials we work with are basically the same as in the time of Marco Polo. However, technology will afford different ways of using these time-honored materials or, in some cases, not to use the materials at all.

This is where the SGAA finds itself. Individual artists as well as studio teams meld their work to accommodate changing tastes, emerging technology, and instant communication. The SGAA needs to be proactive, serve members, and augment these changes through conferences, workshops, and publications. Our Board of Directors is dedicated, and, with today’s communication, they hear from the members on a daily basis and truly act in the best interests of the whole.

Where the world of art glass will go will be an interesting evolution — a combination of technology and new design. The SGAA will be there to oversee the positives and negatives and, with the support of members, will move onward.

With a unique blend of Midwestern warmth and a prime location, the Hyatt is the ideal hotel for every guest. Catch a game at the arena, walk to the convention center, or explore art galleries, shops, restaurants and the exciting Power & Light District with ease. Call 800.233.1234 to make your reservations. Reservations must be made by June 4th to receive the SGAA Conference rate.